Throwback To Where It All Began with Gary Grimmer
23 February 2023 • Uncategorised
In celebrating AIME’s 30th year we spoke to some of AIME’s long-term supporters. Gary Grimmer, CICE Executive Chairman of GainingEdge reflects on his connection with AIME and takes us back to where it all began…
What was the first year that you attended AIME? Have you attended many since?
1996 and have attended most of them since.
The very first AIME was held in 1993. Can you tell us what you were doing in 1993 and how things have changed in your life?
In 1993 I had just moved to Portland, Oregon, USA as the CEO of the Convention Bureau there. Portland was my third Bureau in the US, second as CEO. But my dream was to work internationally and market a city outside of North America. I got my chance when I was recruited into Melbourne at the end of 1995. Since then, I’ve never looked back. My family and I adopted Melbourne as our new home and after 8 years at Melbourne Convention Bureau I left to start GainingEdge. GainingEdge just had its 19th anniversary and we’re lucky to support destination development in all parts of the world. I’ll never stop promoting Melbourne though!
What’s one way the business events industry has changed since your first AIME?
One way is that it was never referred to as Business Events until around 2003 when the Business Events Council of Australia was formed. At the time I became its first Chair. At the first meeting I told the board we were going to lock the doors until we all agreed to what we should call the industry. Someone said, “Well, ‘business’ should be in the name because our industry is more about business and economic development than tourism.” Then someone else said, “maybe ‘events’ should be in the name because we need government support and government really likes developing and hosting events.” So, we voted unanimously for “Business Events” and unlocked the door and let everyone leave. Now that term is being used all over the world!
The other change I would nominate is that when AIME started, we all felt that the industry’s value proposition was about attracting more visitors to our destinations. Now that’s considered a secondary effect and that the true value is about broader economic development, the impacts of forging global trade and intellectual engagement opportunities for our business and professional communities.